"I can't get used to having a woman on the bridge"

[Methuselah Flint]

Not an episode, but once Uhura is taken to sickbay, I don't think we have any female crew members on the bridge until she returns, in The Tholian Web.

I think it is a male-only bridge when Kirk confronts his evil twin at the end of The Enemy Within.

The short scene at the end of A Private Little War features just Spock and Scott, although Uhura could arguably be at her console.

And of course we don't know who is on the bridge in All Our Yesterdays.

 

[Tenacity]

To be fair I'm sure Roddenberry got the name Vulcan from the hypothetical planet inside the orbit of Mercury

Originally (early on) wasn't Spock supposedly from Mars?

As for the planet Vulcan, I thought that came from the Roman god of fire, volcanoes, deserts, and metalworking. Which could partially explain Vulcan as a desert planet.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Frankly I can't see Bruce Greenwood or Anson Mount (or any modern Trek writer) interpreting the Pike character anywhere close to the face-value of that particular line. So I'm wondering, how do other people interpret that particular line in that particular episode?

Well, we know that Pike's previous yeoman was killed in that nasty business on Rigel VII.

In my headcanon, that yeoman was female, and Pike still hadn't gotten over her death. So I interpret his attitude towards Colt as an uncomfortable reminder of that.

 

[alpha_leonis]

Well, we know that Pike's previous yeoman was killed in that nasty business on Rigel VII.

In my headcanon, that yeoman was female, and Pike still hadn't gotten over her death. So I interpret his attitude towards Colt as an uncomfortable reminder of that.

I get the idea. I'm not sure it jives as well with the immediate follow-up awkwardness with Number One.

 

[Warped9]

It’s sloppy writing. A few years later Archie Bunker saying the same things would get him labelled as a chauvinist pig.

Giving women equal footing and professional courtesy and respect in the work place, particularly with equal responsibilities and authority, was then seen as a novelty men would have to get used to. Roddenberry should have left it alone and not drawn attention to it, but he felt compelled to comment on it. He was basically saying that men find it awkward working next to women because men would have a hard time setting aside their sexual fantasies to allow for a truly professional working relationship. It’s bullshit, of course, but GR was reflecting chauvinists’ viewpoints of the time.

He should have just left it alone.

Pike having sexual fantasies of his female First Officer or his Female Yeoman is in itself not a crime or anything immoral. He gets into trouble if he acts upon those thoughts inappropriately particularly given he is their superior officer. He doesn’t feel awkward with Number One given he apparently doesn’t see her that way, but apparently Number One sees Pike that way as is later revealed by the Talosian Keeper. Pike might well have sexual feelings about Yeoman Colt and also sense her reciprocal feelings, but he’s lousy at hiding it and betrays what should be professional conduct—he should keep his mouth shut.

Note there is an echo of this male viewpoint in “The Corbomite Maneuver” when Kirk grumbles over Starfleet assigning him a female yeoman and McCoy calls him on it. The whole thing is handled better than in “The Cage.” Later in “The Man Trap” the echo resurfaces as two crewman remark on imagining having their own personal female yeoman.

 

[johnnybear]

As for the planet Vulcan, I thought that came from the Roman god of fire, volcanoes, deserts, and metalworking. Which could partially explain Vulcan as a desert planet.

Or the devastating war of Surak's time perhaps?
JB

 

[Tenacity]

I get the idea. I'm not sure it jives as well with the immediate follow-up awkwardness with Number One.

Maybe Captain Pike's previous first officer was also killed on Rigil Seven? Pike's still getting used to Number One being in the first officer's position.

 

[Kor]

Maybe Captain Pike's previous first officer was also killed on Rigil Seven? Pike's still getting used to Number One being in the first officer's position.

It would make sense that at some point there was at least one other officer with higher rank than Lieutenant Number One. Maybe a Commander or Lt. Commander or two were lost at Rigel.

Kor

 

[Henoch]

It would make sense that at some point there was at least one other officer with higher rank than Lieutenant Number One. Maybe a Commander or Lt. Commander or two were lost at Rigel.

Kor

Invoking @Timo, with a crew of only 203, maybe Pike's rank was only Commander, himself. At the Enterprise's next refit, perhaps the crew was upped to 430 and Pike promoted to full captain for it's next five year mission.

As to the Rigel incident, it seems to be Starfleet procedure for the Captain/Commander to beam down with his first officer, chief medical doctor, chief engineer and his yeoman for every dangerous mission. Three of them died...and we know it wasn't the doctor. Additionally, seven others were injured with only Spock and Tyler showing any signs of injury. So, five others were injured and maybe some of them are serious since Pike is " going to stop first at the Vega Colony to replace anybody who needs hospitalization". This could account for more missing senior officers. Prior to Rigel, Number One could have been number four or five on the totem pole.

 

[J.T.B.]

Maybe Captain Pike's previous first officer was also killed on Rigil Seven? Pike's still getting used to Number One being in the first officer's position.

One would think that if the yeoman's death deserved specific mention, the second-in-command's would as well, not grouped with "others."

 

[Timo]

...But if the XO is merely bedridden, the dead Yeoman is entitled to the attention.

We have previously argued about the astrography of the adventure. Within "The Cage", there's little argument to be made. In the greater Trek context, though, it would seem Pike is in no real hurry to deliver his wounded to the care facility, as he chooses Vega next to Earth while coming from the faraway Rigel. Basically, it seems Pike is still committed to making his rounds (including this time-consuming impulse-speed patrol in the vicinity of Talos), and will merely drop off the patients at the next scheduled port of call. The putative XO thus apparently wouldn't be one and a half steps from the grave yet, and might be consulted during this crisis. (Or then he, she or it is safely tucked in stasis, can remain there for as long as necessary, but really should not be bothered.)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Valin]

He wasn't used to a woman on the bridge because it was new to Pike. The episode starts on a Wednesday, the first women officers assigned to the bridge had come aboard the day before--on Tuesday (the canonical Starfleet delivery day).

 

[Kor]

As I noted the last time we had this exact same discussion, we tend to assume that social progression would be continuous into the future. But there could be periods of regression for whatever reasons, as there have been throughout history. Perhaps some upheavals in the late 22nd and early 23rd centuries lead to resurgences in attitudes that we would consider backward.

Kor

 

[Henoch]

Throughout the Cage, no chief engineer ever appeared. Was he in stuck in Engineering the whole episode? One of the casualties? At the end of the strategy session in the briefing room, Number One does seems to address a blue shirt, "Engineering deck will rig to transmit ship's power. We'll try blasting through that metal." Was the blue shirt the chief engineer? Later, it was Number One, two engineering crewmen (not officers) and Dr. Boyce() setting up the laser cannon on the surface along with Tyler and another guy on armed security duty. Hmm.

After Number One got kidnapped, Spock was acting captain!

SPOCK: This is the acting captain speaking.

 

[Tenacity]

as he chooses Vega next to Earth while coming from the faraway Rigel

Pike refers to "the Vega colony," but does this neceassarily mean a colony world around the nearby star Vega (25 light years from Earth).

Vega in Spanish means fertile land, and could be the colonists official name for their planet, assuming the original colonists were Spanish speaking. The planet's star systen could be reasonable near Rigel Seven.

 

[FormerLurker]

seven others were injured with only Spock and Tyler showing any signs of injury

No, the communications officer has a bandage on his neck. If it had been relevant, they would have shown all of them, but three with obvious injuries was enough to establish that the command crew had come under attack.

 

[Nyotarules]

Do any of the novels address Pike's attitude in The Cage?

 

[MAGolding]

Pike refers to "the Vega colony," but does this neceassarily mean a colony world around the nearby star Vega (25 light years from Earth).

Vega in Spanish means fertile land, and could be the colonists official name for their planet, assuming the original colonists were Spanish speaking. The planet's star systen could be reasonable near Rigel Seven.

Vega is also a common surname in Spanish speaking countries. Thus the Vega colony could theoretically have been the colony established by someone named Jose Vega or something.

However, since Vega is also the name of a famous strar, Alpha Lyrae, science fiction convention indicates that the Vega Colony should be on a planet orbiting Vega.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Throughout the Cage, no chief engineer ever appeared. Was he in stuck in Engineering the whole episode? One of the casualties? At the end of the strategy session in the briefing room, Number One does seems to address a blue shirt, "Engineering deck will rig to transmit ship's power. We'll try blasting through that metal." Was the blue shirt the chief engineer? Later, it was Number One, two engineering crewmen (not officers) and Dr. Boyce() setting up the laser cannon on the surface along with Tyler and another guy on armed security duty. Hmm.

After Number One got kidnapped, Spock was acting captain!

Isn't Spock's position "First Lieutenant" in the Cage? As such, he would be next in line for command.

 

[Henoch]

Isn't Spock's position "First Lieutenant" in the Cage? As such, he would be next in line for command.

Number One was the only officer addressed by rank, "Lieutenant". No other rank was given to any of the other officers during the episode. Later in the Menagerie, his rank during the Talos mission was only given as "a half Vulcan science officer named Spock", but we all believe his rank was Lieutenant at the time even though he must have been low on the seniority list (one or two years out of the academy.)